Ball-covering machine



April 15, 1941. A. F. LARAB EE F BALL-COVERING MACHINE filed May 23,1940 ii 'ienied Apr. 15, 1941 BALL-COVERING MACIIINE Albert FehrLarabee, Greensbnrg, Pa., assignor to Pennsylvania Rubber Company, acorporation of Pennsylvania Application May as, 1940, Serial No. 336,759

. swings counter-clockwise from the dotted-line 2 Claims.

This invention relates to machinery for cova playing balls, and findspractical applicatlon in machinery i'elt cloth to the rubber shells oftennis balls.

In an application for Letters Patent of. the United States fliedNovember 13, 1939, Serial No. 304,071, the applicant, Archibald C.Bowers, has described and claimed a machine or such sort; and my presentinvention is found in improvement of the structure in detail.

In the accompanying drawing Fig. I is a'view in side elevation oi amachine in whose structure is included the improvement of the presentinvention; Figs. II and III are analytic views in side elevation and inplan from above of the detail that constitutes such improvement.

The machine includes two press members, A and B, consisting each of twoblocks I (la, 2a) oi spherical concavity, hinged together, and capableoi swinging upon their hinged connections between the open positionshown in Fig. I and the closed position 01' snug engagement upon thecontained ball. The spherical curvature oi the conoavities of the blocksis that of the covered hall. The peripheral outline oi the concave raceoi each block is exactly that of the duplicate rover parts of Cassinianoutline, so that, when the cover parts are shaped within the concavitiesand the blocks are closed upon the rubber shell of the ball, the coverparts form a complete and continuous cover upon the spherical outersurface or the ball. The line of division oi. the two halves of eachpress member is that of the minor axis of the Cassinian outline to whichthe applied cover part is shaped.

The blocks ofthe press part A are plvotally mounted in a standard 6;those of the press part it are pivotally mounted term or an arm I, whicharm I in turn is pivota mounted. upon a standard 8.

In operation the arm "I swings in its pivotal mounting between thepositions indicated in full and in dotted lines in Fig. I. When the armI is in the dotted-line position and the two blocks of the press part Bare open (as in Fig. I they are shown to be), the blocks of press part Acorreapondingly are in open position, The two blanks oi felt fabric thattogether make up the complete cover of a ball are applied to the twoblocks when the arm I is in such dotted-line position and the two pressmembers are open. The rubher spherical shell S to be covered is thenbrought to position immediately above the open press part it where it issustained upon fingers 43. In the sequent operation or the machine thearm 'I for applying the coverings of to the full-line position, Fig. I,and the blocks 0! the two press parts close. As they close, the fin-'gers 43 recede, leaving the shell 8 supported and carried by thecover-applying press parts. After their initial closure the press partsopen and close again upon the now covered ball.

It will be observed 01' the two press parts A and B that when inposition to receive the cover blanks (the dotted-line position of presspart B,

Fig.1, and the full-line position of press part A) these press parts areextended horizontally and their open concave faces are accessible fromabove for. application oi. the cover blanks. Such manifestly is theadvantageous position, facilitating the progress of work upon themachine.

. When, however, the arm I has swung, and the two upon a carrier in theY press parts are in the cooperative positions shown in full lines, andthe hinged blocks 0'! the two press parts close and open upon thecontained balL'the concavity of the press part B is turned and isdirected downwardly.

I have found that in the operation of the machine, lacking the featureof my present inventlon, the tendency exists to produce balls whosecovers are at the seam where the two cover parts meet slightlyone-sided: one of the two cover parts is spread slightly more than theother, and the second is compressed slightly more than the first. I havediscovered that the difficulty, such as it is, is due to the positionsof the two press parts at the time of closure. They close, by intent,simultaneously, under; the propulsion oi the pistons in two pneumaticcylinders II and II: but, whereas, in the case of press part B, theweight or the component blocks in and 2a is cumulative upon the thrustof the piston to ex. pedite closure, in the case or press part A, thethrust or the piston has to overcome the opposition of gravity, tendingto hold the blocks in open and extended position. In consequence, pressblock B is effective in closing slightly in advance of press block A,and to this inherent condition as the source I have traced the slightirregularity that maniiestsitseli in the product.

The invention lies in corrective means that have effect in eliminatinggravity as a disturbing factor in press-blockoperation.

Fig. I shows in full lines the two press parts in co-operatlve position,for closing simultaneously upon a contained ball. The closing andopening movements or the blocks of the two press parts are efiected bythe strokes of the pistons within the two pneumatic cylinders Ill andII. Cylinder I 0 is mounted in the bed of the machine; cylinder I5 iscarried with the press part B in arm 1. The stems I00 and I50 orthepistons that move within the two cylinders I0 and I5 carry severallyblocks IN and I5I; and the component blocks I (la, 2a) of the two pressparts A and B, pivoted in the one case to the standard 6 and in theother to the arm I, are connected part by part by toggle connections I3,I4 to the blocks IOI and I5I; and, in consequence, as the pistonsreciprocate within the cylinders I0 and I5 (the parts being in thepositions shown in Fig. I), the press parts are closed and opened.

Two racks I02 and I52 are carried in a casing I53 that is mounted on thebed-plate oi the machine. They are arranged in parallelism, they extendvertically, their teeth are oppositely arranged, and they aresimultaneously engaged by a gear-wheel I54 that is journaled in thecasing I53. Rack I02 is united with the block IOI upon piston rod I00,and moves with it. The block I5I upon piston rod I50 carries anextension I55 which as the arm 1 swings from the dotted-line position,Fig. I, to the full-line position comes precisely to abutment upon theupper end ofrack I52. The range of the swing of arm 'I is defined by astop 24; and, to effect precision of abutment of extension I55 upon rackI52 the rack is equipped with a telescopic and minutely adjustable tipI56.

By such rack-and-pinion connection between blocks I5I and IIII, theweight that otherwise tends to expedite the descent of piston rod I50 ismade equally effective upon the ascent of piston rod I00; gravity as adisturbing factor is eliminated; and the product of the machinepossesses the desired symmetry in the seam of the cover.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a machine for applying to a ball two complementary cover parts ofCassinlan outline that includes two press parts each consistingf ci fv aplurality of hinged-together blocks adapted to open and close upon acontained ball, a=- 1carrier in which one ofsaid press parts is mounted,by the movementof which carrierfthe E'pa'rt *mounted in it brought froma remotdposition' to a position of co-operation with the other part,means for synchronizing the closing movements of the blocks of the twosaid press parts, such means including two racks severally connected tothe two press parts and a gear wheel simultaneously engaging the tworacks, the carrier-borne press part coming to operative connection withits appropriate rack as the arm comes to such position of co-operation.

2. In a machine for applying to a ball two complementary cover parts ofCassinian outline that includes two press parts, each consisting of aplurality of hinged-together blocks adapted to open and close upon acontained ball, each press part having associated with it an operatingcylf inder and toggle connection between the piston of the operatingcylinder and its hinged-together blocks, a carrier in which one of saidparts with its operating cylinder is mounted, by the movement of whichcarrier the press part mounted in it is brought from remote position toa position of co-operation with the other part, means for synchronizingthe closing movements of the blocks of the two said press parts, suchmeans including two racks reciprocable in parallelism and a gear wheelsimultaneously engaging said racks, one of said racks being connected tothe piston of one of the cylinders and the piston of the carrier-bornecylinder coming to abutment upon the other rack as the carrier comes tosuch position of co-operation,

ALBERT FEHR LARABEE.

